More good days at school
A write-up of our collaboration with Youth Endowment Fund, Oct 2024
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The Challenge
School exclusion significantly impacts children's life chances and is linked to involvement in violent offences. Research consistently shows that violence, addiction, and persistent anti-social behaviour are often rooted in exposure to trauma (Adverse Childhood Experiences – ACEs) and a lack of connection with safe, trusted individuals, termed "social thinning" by the UK Trauma Council. The Youth Endowment Fund and the Home Office have funded this randomised control trial to understand if implementing Trauma Informed Practice (TIP) can prevent young people from becoming involved in violence.
Our Approach
In partnership, KCA and Warren Larkin Associates co-designed this approach with the evaluation team at the Anna Freud Centre and UCL. The 26 schools in the intervention arm will receive the following inputs:
- Collaborative Enquiry: Focus groups and staff/pupil surveys to assess the school’s starting point.
- Whole School Training: Covering Attachment, Trauma Informed Practice, and Emotion Coaching.
- SLT and Pastoral Leads Training: Focusing on therapeutic ideas, reflective practice, resilience building, and policy alignment.
The programme aims to increase staff capacity to:
- understand trauma, ACEs, and collective trauma.
- use relational approaches to manage challenging behaviour.
- strengthen the pupil-teacher relationship to address learning barriers.
- enhance resilience for themselves and colleagues.
- support school leaders in implementing evidence-informed TIP, ensuring systems align, and supporting staff resilience.
The Impact
The evaluation will be published in 2025. Previous research suggests that TIP can positively impact pupil attendance, reduce exclusions, improve emotional regulation, and enhance staff well-being and retention. The goal is to scale this approach to influence educational policy, creating resilient school communities better equipped to support recovery and healing.
Some other recent case studies
More good days at school
An on-going randomised control trial research programme to understand whether trauma informed practice can prevent young people from becoming involved in violence, thereby helping to reduce school exclusions and improve the children’s life chances. There are 26 schools receiving intervention by way of collaborative enquiry, whole school training and training focussed on SLT and pastoral leads. The goal is to create resilient school communities better equipped to support recovery and healing with a view to being able to influence educational policy.
View/download case studyMedway Council and Kent and Medway Violence Reduction Unit
With the aim of supporting children to remain in mainstream education wherever possible and to bring Medway in line with national average of children with an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) being educated in mainstream schools, ensuring specialist placements are reserved for those with the most complex needs, the Trauma Informed Schools (TIS) programme was launched. Collaborative enquiry, whole school training and workshops facilitated by KCA helped to build staff capacity in understanding trauma using relational approaches to strengthen relationships and boost resilience. All of the 69 schools involved in the programme say that they would recommend this training.
View/download case studySwindon Early Years Project
KCA has a long-standing partnership with Swindon Borough Council, working on several projects for the children’s services workforce. Starting in 2013 to implement the Five to Thrive approach. Further training in 2014 for Early Years Practitioners, Health Visitors, and Children’s Centre. In 2015, the programme extended to those working with older children. In July 2019, KCA’s role evolved with the Swindon Early Outcomes Project, which result in online training as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.
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